The Doubt Machine: Documentary Reveals How the Koch Brothers Wage War on Climate Science

The Koch brothers‘ attack on clean energy solutions is just one prong of their war on anything that threatens the dominance of fossil fuels. While funding fights against renewable energy policies at the federal and state levels, the Koch brothers have also been using their vast wealth to sow the seeds of doubt about the science of climate change.

This week, the Real News Network released “The Doubt Machine: The Koch Brothers’ War on Climate Science,” a documentary that explores how Koch-funded entities attacked and threatened climate scientists like Michael Mann and journalists like Jane Mayer. Both Mann and Mayer feature prominently in the documentary, which is narrated by Emma Thompson. You can watch it right here, and it’s well worth your half hour:

Mann, as the film reveals, was dragged through the “Climategate” faux-scandal” and then subjected to subpoenas, harassment, and even death threats. The whole senseless (and seemingly endless) attack on Mann and his climate science colleagues was well documented on DeSmog in real time.

Yes, the climate change denial movement has been well chronicled in Merchants of Doubt, Climate Cover-up and elsewhere, but The Doubt Machine definitely adds some useful personal context from Mann and Mayer, and also draws the clear connections from the denial-sphere to the Koch brothers.